President Barzani urges Baghdad to implement Sinjar Agreement
Shafaq News- Erbil
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday called on the Iraqi government to restore security and reconstruction in Sinjar to enable the return of displaced Yazidis, marking the 12th anniversary of the ISIS genocide against the community.
Barzani described the mass killings, enslavement of Yazidi women and girls, and destruction of homes and places of worship as "an open wound in the heart and soul of the people of Kurdistan," saying many Yazidis continue to pay the price of political disputes and the presence of "illegal armed groups" more than a decade after the attack.
He urged Baghdad to implement the 2020 Sinjar Agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government, which aims to restore local governance, strengthen security, and facilitate the return of displaced residents.
Efforts to rescue the remaining abductees and determine the fate of the missing will continue "as long as even one abductee remains," he said, reaffirming the Kurdistan Region's international campaign to secure broader recognition of ISIS crimes as genocide.
ئەمڕۆ بە خەم و ئازارێکی قووڵەوە، يادی دوازدە ساڵەی تاوانی جينۆساید و کۆمەڵکوژیی هاووڵاتييانى ئێزدیمان دەکەینەوە. لەم یادە بەئازارەدا، سەری ڕێز و نەوازش لەبەردەم گیانی پاکی شەهیداندا دادەنوێنین و بەوپهڕى ڕێز و وەفادارییهوه بەبیریان دەهێنینەوە.تاوانی جينۆسایدی ئێزدییان و به…
— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) August 3, 2026
The August 2014 ISIS offensive on Sinjar resulted in mass executions, abductions, and the enslavement of thousands of Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority in Iraq. Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the district in late 2015, and Iraqi forces declared the full liberation of Nineveh province and the defeat of ISIS two years later.
By early August 2025, Iraq's Mass Graves Directorate had exhumed 68 of the 162 known mass graves in the district, identifying 293 victims, while more than 450 sets of remains remained unidentified. Nearly 2,900 Yazidis are still listed as missing.
